Separate Sburbia: Jade
by St Elmo's Fire
Summary: After receiving the letter from him on her birthday, Jade tries to find ghostyTrickster. (Co-written with Farla. Part of the Sburbia series. Originally posted September 2010.)


_dear jade,_

 _happy birthday!_

 _it's hard to thank you enough for your friendship over the years. heck, if it weren't for you i wouldn't even have met rose and dave, so that is like, THREE TIMES the friendship! that is almost like, TOO MUCH FRIENDSHIP. ha ha. i only wish i could get you something for your birthday that could remotely make up for what you've given me, but of course that's impossible. so here are a couple silly things anyway!_

 _i went to a weird asian store the other day and saw this rad shirt, so i got it and i'm wearing it now! but there was a blue one too which was way more awesome, and i wanted you to have it. i know you like green a lot, but maybe you'd like to try wearing blue sometimes? i bet you'd look like a million bucks! also i know you've been frustrated lately about how your pumpkins keep disappearing. well, i can't begin to explain why that's happening! all i can do is give you these so you can plant some more. don't give up, jade! wherever those dumb old pumpkins went off to, i'm sure you know the fun is in growing them and taking care of them until they're ready!_

 _whew, got to head out to the post office now so this doesn't get to you TOO late! talk to you soon!_

 _~ghostyTrickster_  
 _(john)_

Who is this John claiming to be your friend? And these other friends he mentions?

88

Grandpa had been somewhat perplexed as to where Jade had gotten the seeds, but simply shrugged and did not inquire further. He had agreed to let Jade use the atrium for her garden, and she scurried off to plant the seeds immediately.

However, even as she planted the seeds, the letter nagged in her mind. She was quite sure that she didn't know anyone named John, and she wondered what "ghostyTrickster" meant. Perhaps it was the name of an online forum account? How odd.

As she methodically planted seed after seed in neat rows, Jade became more and more intrigued by this. After she finished, she resolved to find John, wherever he was, and maybe those other friends he mentioned too. Her only lead was his account name (assuming it even was one!), so she would have to use that. Perhaps he frequented a forum about ghosts or other paranormal lore?

Though she began her search post-haste, it would be a year before she made any progress.

88

 **hello! how are you? are you named john? i got a letter from him a long time ago, and i think he's supposed to be my friend, but i don't know him, so i'm trying to find him! i think he likes ghosts and stuff so i was wondering if you were him!**

 **plz reply thx! :)**

 **ps: i'm jade**

Jade looked over the message she had sent to yet another account. Her searches had been fruitless so far, but she refused to give up. All she knew about John was that he liked ghosts, so paranormal forums had seemed like a sure bet but...she'd never run across his account name. She thought he must not be using that name yet. This newest account was called SpeakerWithTheDarkness.

She sighed and clicked the refresh button yet again, and was surprised to see a reply.

 **What? I don't understand what you're talking about. You don't know someone, but know you're supposed to be their friend? I'm a girl, by the way, and I don't know anyone named here named John.**

 ** _~*SpeakerWithTheDarkness*~_**

 **That which does not wake may eternal die**

Oh... Still, she should thank them for responding.

 **sorry! thanks anyway at least now i know you're not him and i have to keep looking! i think it's really important i find him otherwise he'd never send the letter and then i don't know what'd happen! :((((((((((((( i'm pretty sure that can't happen but i'd still like to find him soon!**

 **do you think he's anybody else here? i don't know maybe i should try another place...**

Another reply came back within minutes.

 **I'm afraid I don't think so. Most of the people here are adults, and I suspect they are not your friend, even if they were to claim to be... Beyond that I have no idea how to go about telling if someone is your John or not.**

 **However, I would like to talk to you more if possible. I may not be the person you were looking for, but you seem an interesting person (girl?) And perhaps if you told me more about your friend I could give better advice. My mother recently got a new real-time chatting program, but it's in beta form right now... I do have a few invites, though. Please take one if you're interested. My "chumhandle" is tentacleTherapist. My own name is Rose, for the record.**

 ** _~*SpeakerWithTheDarkness*~_**

 **That which does not wake may eternal die**

Jade's heart skipped a beat. Rose! That was a name from the letter! A friend of John's, presumably. Maybe she was finally getting there! She eagerly clicked one of the invite links and signed up. This chatting program was called "Pesterchum", apparently. Jade contacted tentacleTherapist as soon as she could.

 **\- gardenGnostic [GG] began pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] -**

GG: hi! rose are you there?  
TT: Hm? That was quick.  
TT: Anyway, uh, hi. The program is kind of new, so I don't have a lot of people to talk to...  
TT: But that doesn't matter. Tell me more about you situation, I didn't really understand what you meant...  
GG: for my birthday i got this letter and it was signed by someone named john!  
GG: he said we were friends!  
GG: he talked about someone named rose too, so i thought you might know him!  
GG: apparently we're all going to be friends! :) :) :)  
TT: He did? Well, I'm afraid I don't know anyone named John... Perhaps he was talking about a different Rose.  
TT: But anyway, why did he send you it if he didn't know you? That sounds very weird.  
GG: well yeah but uh that doesn't matter!  
GG: i just want to know if you knew him!  
TT: Actually I think it does matter. How do you know it didn't get sent to the wrong address or something?  
GG: it was addressed to me though!  
GG: also it'd be really hard to send it here by accident XD  
TT: ...Okay...  
GG: anyway he also said his username was ghostyTrickster i think so keep an eye out for that!  
TT: Wait, ghostyTrickster?  
GG: oh do you know him?! :D :D :D  
TT: No, but I think I know what it might be referring to. Try searching in forums about movies. Trickster ghosts are a rarity in paranormal discussions, but there are lots of movies about them.  
GG: ok thx! :D  
TT: If you do find him, please tell me. I'm curious what the ending to this will be.  
GG: of course! anyway i'm sure you'll meet someday :)  
GG: because we're all going to be friends!  
TT: So you've told me.  
GG: bye! :o

\- gardenGnostic [GG] ceased pestering tentacleTherapist [TT] -

TT: Huh.


End file.
